Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1887-11-10
QUEER PHENOMENA.
Some Curious and Unexplained Antics oi
the Camera.

| Some Curious and Unexplained Antics ol
the Camera.
Though not yet arrived at the digni-
ty of being an amateur photographer,
I have provided myself with an elab-
crate outfit and have practiced a good
deal in order to have the means OF Sc
curing better pictures OF Interesting
places and people, when travelling in
out-of- the-way portions OF the ODE,
than I could get with pencil only.
Three times during the course OF my
practice in exposing and developing
dry plates I have made negatives that
startled me, for, if not supernatural.
they at least bordered very closely up
on the miraculous. Twice within the
last month I have endeavored to pho
tograph a handsome collie dog, the
household pet of friend whom I was
visiting.
In order to bring the dog more con-
spicuo usly in the field of vision I
placed him upon a rustic seat on tine
lawn and. VIII en- a restful moment on
his part arrived, exposed the plate.
On the ground glass of the camera the
scene was perfect, the dogs body
reaching from one arm to the other of
the bench, where he stood motionless
during the exposure, which did not
exceed half 4 second of time. On
development had, indeed, a complete
picture of the bench and of the land
scape, but no sign what ever of the
dog. not even a haziness as if he
might have moved during the expos
ure. The plate used was a No 80
Cramer, size 5xS, with Wales lens of
most excellent quality. There were
several people present at the time OBJ
serving the operation or engaging the
attention of the dog to kee p him quiet.
All could, with the clearest con-
science, make legal affidavit that they
saw the dog on the bench all the time,
and yet there is not the slightest trace
of him to be found on the plate. Every
portion of the bench is distinctly visi-
BILE, Notwithstanding that the dog
body interviewed between it and the
camera. While taking the plate
holder into the house to develop the
picture accidentally moved the slide
a little so that the very sensitive plate
is much logged, but did not think it
had been opened far enough to allow
the dog to escape entirely. Again. a
few days later. l had absolutely the
same experience in photographing the
very same dog upon the same bench.
The bench was completely delineated,
but the dog gave no evidence of hay
ing been present.
During last winter. while at York
Factory, on Hudson Bay. my hosts of
the Hudson Bay Company were very
much interested in my camera. and
submitted themselves readily to the
scrutiny of my portrait lens. One
Sunday, just before my departure for
Fort Churchill, I attempted to photo
graph the pretty little daughter of the
master of the factory. The child's
mother, a strict Scotch Presby terrain,
did not hesitate to express her disap-
prevail of doing such work on the Sab
bath. The father. however, prevailed
upon the mother to give her consent,
as I was going away the next day, and
they were very anxious to avail them
selves of a privilege so unusual in that
part of the world to secure portrait
of the little family idol. The child was
posed, standing upon the seat
of an old-fashioned, high-back
chair, stuffed and quilted and
with black buttons to hide the stitches
that dented the hair cloth cover
ing. When all was ready and the
child stood motionless, leaning against
the padded back of the chair, made
the exposure and waited until night
came to develop the plate, perfectly
confident that I had secured good
portrait at last. When the image
came upon the plate. under the action
Of the pyrogallic developer, there was
a perfect picture of the chair, every
button, and. apparently, every hair of
the covering being distinctly drawn.
but no more sign OF the child than if
she had been made of thin air. I was
greatly mystifed, but the father was
awe-stricken as well as disappointed
by the result and whispered in an inn
pressive but husky voice: 1.-THE good
wife said no good would come of pho
on Sunday, and she was
right. am glad it is only the picture
that is lost W II. Glider, in NJ y
World.